


Waste My Time

by spike_spiegels



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, F/M, Underage Drinking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-23
Updated: 2018-12-23
Packaged: 2019-09-25 16:22:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,688
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17124695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spike_spiegels/pseuds/spike_spiegels
Summary: Reiner's throwing a Christmas party, but Jean's feeling anything but festive. Maybe a run in with a certain girl beneath the mistletoe might change his mind.





	Waste My Time

He didn’t know why he even bothered showing up.

Jean couldn’t help but regret all the effort of driving through the snow storm raging outside just to be at Reiner’s Christmas party. Party wasn’t exactly the right word for this function. It might have started out as a party when Reiner had broken into his father’s alcohol cabinet. But now, about an hour into the whole thing, half of the partygoers were lined up outside the bathroom for their turn at the toilet.

Unlike his overly excited classmates, Jean did everything he could to make the concoction in his red Solo cup last. He had nestled himself in the furthest corner of the couch; the best seat in the house. From his perch, Jean watched as Connie and Sasha dared the other to take another shot in slurred words. In the kitchen, a very drunk Reiner shoved Bertholdt towards Annie at the other end of the counter. The taller boy was as red as a tomato and Jean couldn’t tell if it was because of the drinks or embarrassment. He assumed it was a little bit of both.

His gaze shifted over to the couch across from him where Historia had passed out on Ymir’s shoulder. Despite the weight of her friend, the freckled girl continued to take down drinks like it was no one’s business, even demanding Armin to bring over whole bottles from the cabinet. Even though the blond tried to deny her every request, he still came around to Ymir every ten minutes with a different bottle in hand like clockwork.

As entertaining as it was to watch each event unfold, Jean’s focus kept coming back to one thing. It was the silhouette of a girl leaning against the wall of the hallway. No matter where Jean was looking, she was always present out of the corner of his eye.

He stopped trying to distract himself with the drunken antics that were going on around him. It’s not like anyone was going to call him out on staring anyway. Jean examined the girl in the hallway over the rim of his cup as he took another sip of god knows what.

Mikasa seemed to be playing the same role as Jean: the observer. However, unlike Jean, she wasn’t aware of all the alcohol-infused hilarity of the party. Instead, her eyes were glued to one place, or more accurately, one person.

Jean followed her line of sight to the boy currently engaged in a heated conversation with Annie in the kitchen. 

Eren Yaeger.

Yes. Jean had known since freshman year that Mikasa had a crush on Eren. But did that stop Jean from rolling his eyes? Hell no.

A small part of him kept hoping that sooner or later she would let it go. But it didn’t matter anymore. It was already senior year and she was still fixated on Eren. Jean knew that he was the one who had to let go.

Still, one questioned remained. Mikasa usually kept within a few feet of Eren at all times. So, of all nights, why was she keeping her distance and hiding out in the hallway of all places?

Before Jean could brainstorm even one answer for the question, he felt a sudden dampness on his arm. He turned to see a triumphant Sasha cheering above Connie who was currently hunched over the nearest trash can. In the boy’s rush for the bin, he had knocked an abandoned mixed drink onto Jean’s jacket.

With a curse, Jean stood up from his seat and removed his extremely festive black jacket. The drink had soaked through his outerwear. A blotch of purple liquid now adorned his shirt. Jean made his way towards the door, completely and utterly done. 

All he got out of this stupid Christmas party was a reminder the only girl he was ever interested still didn’t know he existed, a stain on his favorite shirt, and a drink that tasted like nail polish remover smelled.

What a waste of time.

“Going home already?”

Jean stopped, his irritation suddenly put on hold. He had just crossed the threshold into the hallway and now he was standing shoulder to shoulder with the girl he had been watching all night.

“Yeah, not much going on anyway,” he responded, keeping his eyes on the floorboards.

“I don’t blame you,” Mikasa said. “I’d go home myself if I hadn’t carpooled with Armin and Eren. But, by the looks of things, we won’t be leaving anytime soon.”

Jean turned and looked up at her then. She was still facing the direction of the kitchen, watching as Eren and Annie toasted a shot before coughing and laughing afterward. It looked like they were having fun.

He realized that he and Mikasa had a lot more in common than he thought. While he had been brooding about his unrequited interest, Mikasa was doing the same thing.

“I can take you home if you want,” Jean offered.

Their eyes met for the first time that night. Even in the dim light of the hallway, her eyes were piercing; a balance of intimidating and beautiful.

“Thanks, but...I need to be here. I need to see this.”

Jean blinked. “Why? Are you some kind of masochist?”

Mikasa smiled at that one. “I don’t know, maybe? What I do know is that I have to move on. I mean, I’ve spent my whole life waiting for him to look at me. I think that’s long enough.”

Jean had always thought that Mikasa needed to give up on Eren, but he suddenly realized the gravity of what he wanted her to do. Her letting go of Eren meant letting go of her childhood friend. They had so much history together.

And what did Jean have with Mikasa? All he really had was the one time they were paired up as chemistry partners in sophomore year. He had been so nervous around her that he couldn’t stop his hands from trembling which resulted in more than a few broken beakers and hours spent with Hange cleaning up her classroom. How could he even ask her to compare himself to Eren?

“Sorry to dump this on you out of nowhere,” Mikasa interrupted Jean’s train of thought. “I just figured it’d be nice sharing it with someone who won’t forget everything by morning.”

“No worries.”

He decided tonight was not the night to dwell on his place in Mikasa’s eyes. She had just entrusted him with her feelings, that must mean she at least acknowledges his existence. That was good enough.

“I’ve been meaning to ask something,” Jean said. “Why did you pick this hallway as your stakeout area? I can assure you there are more comfortable places to watch from. Not that I’m speaking from experience.”

For a while, Mikasa didn’t say anything. Then, she lifted one hand and pointed directly up.

Jean followed her finger upward and suddenly her place in the hallway made a lot of sense. Hanging above them was a small piece of mistletoe.

“Kinda embarrassing,” Mikasa sighed. “I saw it while coming in and I thought what better way to get my answer from Eren.”

By the time Mikasa was done with her explanation, Jean felt a blush burning his cheeks. While half of him wanted to change the subject or exit the conversation entirely, the much stronger half of him went straight into fantasizing.

Just the thought of kissing Mikasa fried his brain. He got hung up on every detail. The closeness of their bodies. The warmth of her breath. The softness of her lips. He could have sworn that last thought alone would have buckled his knees on any normal night.

But this night was far from normal.

While it was true that he was really into this girl and admittedly spent a lot of his time daydreaming about being with her, he was also really into being alive. Jean had no doubt that Mikasa could rearrange his face with one swing of her arm, so he knew he couldn’t let these fantasies get the better of him.

Still, as he stood there staring at the mistletoe hovering above them, he couldn’t help but feel a bit sad.

“So, what about it?”

Jean tore his gaze away from the plant and focused back on Mikasa. “What?”

“Don’t make me repeat it,” she bunched up her scarf with a hand, bringing the fabric over her mouth. “I said, did you want to make use of the mistletoe?”

Jean stood there in silence. He was waiting, waiting for the inevitable shake or call that would wake him from one of his fantasies. That was how it always ended, so why would this time be any different?

Moments passed. Nothing happened. That’s when Jean realized that this was actually happening.

“But, you and Eren…” Jean could feel his brain overheating. What he wouldn’t give to book it out into the snowstorm right now.

Mikasa nudged her head in the direction of the kitchen. Jean saw that Eren and Annie had disappeared. The only people who remained around the counter was a defeated Bertholdt and Reiner who was now drunkenly comforting his friend.

“There is no me and Eren,” Mikasa corrected. “There’s just me, you and this mistletoe. So, I’ll ask again. What about it?”

He was done overthinking things. Mikasa made him an offer and he was going to take her up on it. It was that simple.

“I can’t let a good mistletoe go to waste.”

Jean leaned down and kissed her. While it was over as quickly as it began, Jean knew that he would be thinking about this moment for weeks, maybe even months to come.

When their lips parted, Mikasa’s eyes remained closed for a few seconds afterward. He figured she must be taking in what just occurred because that was exactly what he was doing. But, when she opened her eyes, there was no shock or confusion. All that was there was what Jean would describe as excitement.

“I think I’m going to enjoy moving on.”

Jean’s cheeks just turned redder.


End file.
